SMART Goals Are NOT Enough!

SMART Goals Are NOT Enough!

Congratulations on caring about goals! That puts you ahead of most of the US population!

I love SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results-based, Time-bound) goals. AND I know that having a SMART goal is not sufficient for your goal-setting.

Here’s what does NOT work when you set your goals:

1. You pick a goal that feels really abstract and you never connect it to your daily life. “I’d like to make more money; lose 10 lbs; get a boyfriend.” I could go on and on. These goals are a vague word cloud in your head and there’s no connection to your daily life. That doesn’t work.

2. You pick a goal that you feel you should do, or it’s something someone else wants you to do. This might be a goal that your partner, your upline, or your colleagues want. It’s a goal other people are more invested in than you are. Or it’s something that your reference group values, but you don’t really feel attached to that.

3. You choose a goal that you both really want AND you have a significant reservation or concern about. This is trickier to identify, because that reservation or fear or concern is unconscious. This WILL happen when you want to build your business. The analytic part of your brain is totally on board with building your business. And another part of you is concerned: “If I have to be more engaged with my biz at a higher level, what’s going to happen? If I spend a lot of time building my business, will my relationships suffer? Will I run out of time for what’s important to me? Will my health suffer? Am I ever going to have any time off? I already feel overwhelmed, what will happen if I get even busier?”

These are all key examples of reservations or concerns that will keep you from moving forward on your goals.

When you pick goals any of these ways, your goals are doomed.Why? Part or all of you is really disconnected from these goals on an emotional level.

Instead, I recommend you pick goals that your mind and heart love, so both parts of you are fully on board with your goals.

How does that work?

1. Pick goals that map into your WHY and your core values. What I hear over and over again from my clients and my community: “I want to help more women.” If that’s important, start there and get more specific. You’ll find it easier to get there via thinking about how to help more women vs. making more money.

If your goal is to make $1K more/month, then ask yourself – “How many MORE women do I need to help each month?” That’s your focus and the reference point/the metric you want to track. Helping women first and money second, that will keep you energized!

2. As you’re engaged in this process, journal about this connection (or draw or create vision board or record yourself). This gives you a clear way to remind yourself o the deep connection between your goal and your why. That way, you don’t have to recreate that link logically every time. Instead, create something that quickly connects you in.

3. As you do this process, pay attention to your heart. Your heart has to be yearning for this goal! It can’t just be your mind telling you that you need $12K more per year. Your heart has to be on fire to do whatever it takes. Because It takes that much energy to keep your business going! I often ask: “What’s going to get you out of bed at 2am?” It has to be something you care about that much! $1K at 2am may not be compelling, while helping a woman in need can bounce you out of bed in a heartbeat!

Really connecting into heart space as you connect into your goals and Keeping your heart space open is key!

CALL TO ACTION

With the cooler days and longer nights, this is a great time to get cozy, look inward and start dreaming about the next quarter and the next year. What do you most want to experience?

Reminder: This is not a big complicated process. Sit down with your journal and a hot drink, for 10-15 min. at a time (or longer if you want), over several days. Give yourself some quality time to connect in with yourself about what your true desires.

Once you’re in touch with your true desires, you can create SMART goals AND also stay in touch with your heart. That way you’ll end up with goals you’ll stick through an extended period of time and keep moving forward.